NYT: Facebook today is just like Microsoft 30 years ago

The New York Times expects Facebook, if it takes its stock public next year, to be the Wall Street darling — just like Microsoft was when it IPO’d in 1986.

In a piece Friday, the newspaper showed just how similar Facebook’s story today is to Microsoft’s story three decades ago. Here’s an excerpt:

A computer prodigy drops out of Harvard and builds one of America’s hottest companies. He brings on an M.B.A. to help him think about things other than programming. He wants to keep his very profitable company private. But as his company grows, he begins distributing shares to his ever-increasing employee base. This gives his company more than 499 shareholders and forces him to consider an initial public offering. The investment bank Goldman Sachs plays a major role in the I.P.O.